Loving Hands

Loving Hands

I like to make things for others and want to make some things for Charities but never know what to make or for whom.
Then I found this site. Loving Hands
I joined the forum today and will be making a Sheep, yes you heard a Sheep and like most of my toys it will be different.
Now I have found a site that offers charities to make things for I will have plenty to keep me busy. I will probably make one or two things for the charities I chose to keep postage costs down but that is fine I can help people out and that is what counts.
They do have a way of sending off large amounts to them but I have no where to store the items in order to reach 10kgs or 25kgs, so little and often will be the way to go for me.

I will make what I can when I can and in between making things for friends and family so sorry my darling husband more needle clicking in the evenings.

Knit the Knit Purl the Purl

As a  novice knitter some instructions are baffling. They may be written to make the pattern less lengthy but it often means you have no idea what they are on about.
Knit the knit and purl the purl is one of these.
What does it mean? and how can you tell what you are supposed to do?
Have a look here; Knit the Knit Purl the Purl

So look at the stitches below and you will see which stitch you are supposed to do.
That means Purl the knit and knit the purl means you do the opposite to the stitches below as you would in basket weave stitch Basket weave stitch

So mystery solved it is not as hard as it first sounds, so now that I have this figured out it opens up a few more patterns that I avoided before.

Sunday Comfort Shawl

This is a shawl I made for my friend Koni to wear on the cooler days they get in Texas. I called Sunday Comfort Shawl as she likes relaxing on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and the news papers.
A simple pattern that knits up quickly and can be done whilst watching the TV.
I used 40cm long 6mm needles with DK yarn. I chose Peacock blue, Green and Lilac yarn as they were the colours my friend likes.
Cast on 5 stitches
Knit two rows
Then K3, YO, Knit to the end
Repeat this row until you have enough stitches to make it as wide and as long as you want. My needle was so full of stitches it could not hold any more.
I changed colours on the RS and decided how many rows to add between each colour. Mine was 11 garter ridges in Turquise blue 1 or 2  garter ridges in Lilac and 4 ridges garter stitch in green.
Bind off when the shawl is as large as you want it.
Sew in tail ends.

A nice easy shawl that can be knitted in various yarns just use a needle one or two times larger than stated for the yarn. A shawl made in varigated yarn would be pretty as well.

ODDBOD Teddy

I wanted to make a Teddy to go with the stripey blanket I had made so I made this little chap

Meet ODDBOD

A simple knitted Teddy with a difference he is stripped and very colourful in red and  peacock blue. I embroidered his face so it is safe and will not have anything that baby can pull out.
I washed him as well as I do all my toys in Fairy so it is nice and safe for delicate skin.

It also means I get a chance to make sure the toys keep their shape and are colour fast. The yarn I use states it is colour fast but I like to make sure.

The Pattern for this teddy is in old book by Jean Greenhowe

Knitted Toys I have had the book a while now and have made several items from it and all turn out well.

So little Oddbod is ready and waiting to be given to his new owner in June.

Unique Baby Blanket

I wanted to make a baby blanket that was bright and colourful just as my Daughter-in-Law Chizzy  asked for. She wanted a bright colourful blanket or anything else for the baby so I came up with this.

This is Left side of the blanket.

This is the Right side of the blanket.

You can see the blanket is colourful and very bright. The colours are much brighter in reality than they are here.

This is close up of the Duck and the Baby face on the blanket.

This is a fish that I knitted and worked some embroidery on it as well to make it look a little more interesting.

Teddy was fun to make as he was smaller than the pattern stated. To make him smaller I used a smalled sized needle. He looks quite cute on the blanket and being green a little different.

A tree with bright red apples on it seemed to balance the whole thing out.

I started off by selecting the colours I wanted to use in DK yarn and used a 5mm circular needle and knitted back and forth.
Starting with one stitch I increased until I had a really full cable needle then started to decrease. I used the same pattern that I use for my 8 inch Square.
I changed the colours as I felt like it using the bright yellow as a single row of Garter stitch to break up the other colours.
When the square was complete I made the motifs and carefully sewed them in place. I went round the edges of the motifs to stop little fingers getting stuck or picking at the motif.
Then came the borders, I picked up stitches down one edge and knitted 10 rows then bound off. I did the same on the other sides so there are no mitres and did each side a different colour. By using different colours I was able to keep the colour scheme of the blanket going rather than have all one colour.
I think I have come up with something different that no one else will have. Fingers crossed Chizzy likes it.

Blanket Buddy

Every baby likes a blanket to cuddle and this character offers that and is easy to make.
I made mine bright yellow so it is suitable for either a boy or a girl. It can be carried with the ears and will probably be chewed on when baby is teething.
Blanket Buddy

Joining Swaps

I love to join in various swaps on the Knitting Paradise forum and one that I have joined in with is the Friendship Blanket Swap.
We send out an 8 X 8 inch square to a different person each month and when we have enough we can sew the squares together to create a unique blanket.
The problems is you can get squares that are not the correct size so what do you do with a square that is not the size stated?
If it is 6 X 7 inches like one or two I have had it is easy to alter it so it will be 8 X 8 inches.

This square was a little small but I love it

Pick up and knit stitches down one side and knit until the square is the size you want. Then pick up and knit along the bottom edge and again knit so it is the size you need. Don't worry if you don't have the same colour yarn it will add to the uniqueness of the blanket.
I love the squares I get and by using this method will be able to use all of them. The one in the picture is lovely as it has my initial in it and I can easily alter the size and make it fit into the blanket.
So don't get upset when a square is a little on the small side make it bigger.
Modular knitted squares